HN Tay ENT Head & Neck Thyroid Sleep Robotic Surgery

Specialty

Qualifications

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, National University of Singapore

Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Master of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Fellow of the Academy of Medicine of Singapore (Otorhinolaryngology)

Languages Spoken

English

Hokkien

Mandarin

Teochew

Background

Dr Tay is an Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT or otolaryngology) specialist currently practising in Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore. His clinical interests include using endoscopic and robotic approaches for thyroid surgery, head and neck surgery, advanced sinus surgery, and surgery for sleep apnoea and cancers in the ear, nose and throat.

Dr Tay graduated from the NUS faculty of medicine and completed his training in otolaryngology in Singapore, becoming the first ever distinction candidate in the Exit Examinations. Under the Health Manpower Development Program Award, he subsequently underwent Senior Fellowship training in Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (New York) and was rated top 5% among his 35 years of trainees by Professor Jatin Shah, recognised as the leading head and neck surgeon in the world today. Dr Tay was then appointed visiting scholar to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre with Professor Carl Snyderman’s Endoscopic Skullbase Service.

After obtaining further training in robotic surgery in Korea’s Yonsei Severance Hospital, Dr Tay founded the Robotic Head and Neck Surgery Program in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). This began with thyroid surgery and further expanded into surgery of the oropharynx and neck dissection for cancer. He is one of the pioneers of robotic tongue base surgery for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in the region. Dr Tay has been invited to teach in Malaysia, Korea, Israel on robotic approaches to thyroidectomy, transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for cancer and OSA. At present, he is the only head & neck surgeon in the region recognised with a listing in Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Surgeon Locator.

Dr Tay has always been passionate about teaching and has won the Star Inspiring Surgical Teacher Award and Most Innovative Teacher Award for resident teaching. He continues to contribute time teaching Duke-NUS students in his capacity as adjunct assistant professor, after leaving his position as chief of the Head and Neck Service in SGH ENT to start his private practice.

Dr Tay’s philosophy of practice is to educate patients and empower them to make informed choices in managing their condition. He strives to remain on the cutting edge and be able to offer patients all possible options in the management of their problems. But most of all, he aims to be compassionate and to be uncompromising on ethics.